Chronic Heart Failure: We Are Fighting the Battle, but Are We Winning the War?

Table 2

Studies reporting the proportion of chronic heart failure patients that achieved target doses of beta blockers in “real-world” practice.

Study	Average age (years)	Eligible patients only included*	Patients with documented contraindications or intolerance excluded	Percentage that achieve target dose
Tandon et al. 2004 [137]^a	69	No	No	18%; (24% 1998–2001)
Franciosa et al. 2004 [130]^b	67	Yes	Yes	27% (primary care); 49% (cardiology)
Mehta et al. 2004 [134]^b	67	Yes	Yes	7%
Jain et al. 2005 [135]^b	64	No	No	<25%
Gustafsson et al. 2007 [132]^b	69	Yes	No	21%
Lainscak et al. 2007 [136]^b	65	No	Yes	26%
Fonarow et al. 2008 [128]^b	70	Yes	Yes	8%, 18%
Calvert et al. 2009 [124]^a	78	No	No	12%
Driscoll et al. 2011 [133]^a	67	No	No	36% (usual care); 48% (nurse-led)

∗Eligibility generally defined as patients with heart failure associated with moderate to severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction.
^aProportion taking target dose based upon all patients taking beta blockers.
^bProportion taking target dose based upon all patients (including patients taking and patients not taking beta blockers).